Global, Turkey

From Global Data to Local Action

For more than a decade WRI has built a reputation harnessing the digital revolution to translate detailed real-time information — about deforestation, land conversion, wildfire risk, or pollution — into local environmental action. This radical democratization has put immense power in the hands of communities, individuals and companies. Now WRI is using Artifi- cial Intelligence to create a step change in how they can use data to protect and improve the world around them.

WRI’s previous pioneering work gave the world Global Forest Watch, a free, accessible platform that uses satellite-based forestmonitoring to make it easier to spot change and demand accountability. More recently, WRI and the Bezos Earth Fund convened the Land & Carbon Lab, which brings together more than 80 peer-reviewed, open-source datasets on land dynamics that were once difficult to assemble or use at scale.

Now WRI is working on the next frontier. AI’s promise is faster insights that translate more effectively into local action: turning a growing ocean of maps, alerts and technical datasets into answers that help someone decide what to do next. The challenge is that even the best data can be hard to navigate. It is often fragmented, technical and time-consum- ing to interpret, especially for users who do not have a bench of analysts, GIS specialists or scientists.

Global Nature Watch is WRI’s answer to the AI era: an open, AI-powered system that translates complex environmental monitoring into plain-language, actionable intelligence. In a simple chat interface, users can ask questions in a range of languages and receive responses supported by data, maps and context drawn from trusted WRI platforms and partners.

A Personal Geospatial Assistant at Your Fingertips

Global Nature Watch builds on the foundations of Global Forest Watch and the Land & Carbon Lab. In effect it is an AI-driven interface that puts the power of a personal geospatial assistant at the fingertips of anybody who needs it, anywhere in the world.

As Evan Tachovsky, director of WRI’s Data Lab, says, “Using AI doesn’t mean absolving humans of responsibility or replacing their efforts entirely. We seek to increase our account- ability and environmental stewardship while using AI to augment human capacity, ingenuity and care, instead of automating it away.”

This has the greatest impact at the local level, where time, expertise and capacity are often limited. Global Nature Watch helps users quickly triage what they are seeing — an alert, a pattern, a sudden change — and understand what it could mean, without needing to be a geospatial expert. Early feedback suggests it is also expanding the circle of users, reaching people who had not previously used WRI’s monitoring tools.

Results are already visible on the ground. In Turkey, for instance, it is being used to prevent catastrophic wildfires. The Manavgat Fire Management District used one-meter resolution vegetation canopy data — produced in partnership with WRI and Meta — to map fuel density and better anticipate wildfire behavior. With a clear picture of where risk is highest, they can plan safer firefighter zones and strengthen preparedness for future outbreaks.

Achievements Built on Partnerships

WRI’s track record in this space has always been built on partnership — combining rigorous science, open data and practical tools with the reach of technology platforms like Google and Meta and the insight of local users. Global Nature Watch has been primarily funded by the Bezos Earth Fund and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative, with support from Google.

In an era when nature and climate risks are accelerating, the world needs more than information. It needs answers people can use, distilling global systems into local insights. Global Nature Watch is designed to meet that moment — connecting world-class data to real decisions, so local action can add up to global impact.

HSBC

WRI’s current philanthropic partnership with HSBC focuses on accelerating finance for nature- based solutions across Mexico, from water-stressed regions in the north to mangrove forests in Yucatán. This work builds on our recently completed five-year Climate Solutions Partnership with HSBC and WWF, and sees WRI bridging objectives across stakeholders into scalable climate action.

In northern Mexico, WRI is partnering with the agriculture sector and local Irrigation Districts to mobilize finance to protect watersheds and secure groundwater recharge. These collaborative efforts have already mobilized over $1 million from agricultural producers to restore and conserve thousands of hectares in water-stressed regions. In the Yucatán peninsula, WRI is working with the tourism sector and coastal communities to scale mangrove restoration.

As part of the Climate Solutions Partnership, WRI’s CEO co-chaired HSBC’s Climate Advisory Panel, an external group of experts that provided regular insights and feedback that helps guide HSBC’s approach to net zero.